Saturday, February 28, 2015

Yesterday's loss of Leonard Nimoy felt strangely personal to me, perhaps because as someone smarter than me said "It feels like we lost a friend".Nimoy's portrayal of Mr Spock has always been a topic of conversation here at PlaidStallions, especially all the wonderful Star Trek merchandise that we 70s kids got.Toy makers such as Remco, Mego, AHI and others recognized Nimoy as the most recognizable factor of the show and his visage appeared on thousands of items during the course of our childhood, here are some of my favourites.Beam down after the jump:

Friday, February 27, 2015

In 1981, Larami was celebrating it's 20th year of bringing low cost licensed "Rack Toys" to children around the world.

This year was no exception with licenses like the DC and Marvel comics Superheroes, Barbie, Fat Albert, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Mighty Mouse and the ever present Popeye, Larami had something for any kid to beg their parents for while they shopped.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

The Lord of the
Rings
(1979), Whitman (Editor's note Today's submission provided and authored by Kurt, who has graciously us provided a glimpse into this neat book- Take it away Kurt!)

I have very nostalgic feelings for
Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings. It reminds me of the Age of the Video Store
– that popcorn-scented archive of categorized racks of colorful, terrifying,
sometimes lurid shelves of potential thrills and wonder. In the Kid’s Corner, amongst the
predominantly white clamshell cases featuring Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s
Apprentice and compilations of mainstream cartoons, were what I considered the
“more mature” animated movies: titles like Rankin-Bass’ The Hobbit and The Last
Unicorn or Don Bluth’s The Secret of
N.I.M.H. These were cartoons that were thematically darker and
stylistically unique, and to my young mind, Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings was serious stuff. Despite its shortcomings, I still consider it an ambitious and
inspiring piece of art that honestly attempted to adapt a fantasy masterpiece that
had previously been abandoned as unfilmable.

Another passion of mine was
collecting coloring books, often buying a particular book for a single
image. I had a huge collection that,
sadly, was destroyed by renters. Over the
years, I have gradually replaced some of my favorites and found new books that
I never knew existed. I recently ran
across this Lord of the Rings
coloring book by Whitman and was excited to see Bakshi’s vision in bold black
and white line drawings.

Unfortunately, what I ended up with
was a lot of boring scenes and compositions with poorly drawn, often off-model
pictures of the Fellowship walking.

Let’s start with the cover (LOTR Cover): Frodo
“has the Power!” while Gandalf photobombs.Grab your crayons and still suit and join me after the jump

Friday, February 20, 2015

Star Blazers was a huge phenomenon in my neighbourhood when it hit the airwaves in 1979, my friends and I would gather every day at the one house whose ariel got the channel just to see if the Argo did indeed save earth.That's why these action figures produced by Nomura in Japan blew my mind when I first saw them. Like Battle of the Planets, Star Blazers is an action figure line I really wanted as a kid!

So I present to you not only my dream line of action figures but possible one of the greatest playsets I've ever seen and brother, that's saying a lot.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

I have a soft spot for TV trays, mainly because they whisk me back to my grandparent's apartment and was the only thing they used not covered in plastic. Seriously, they even had plastic on top of the carpeting.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Another photo submission from Manuel, these cool Land of the Lost Moon Spinners/Even though the toys have no relation to the show, I'd have been a sucker for these due to the cards heavy "Sleestak factor".

Sunday, February 15, 2015

I got a lot of nice mail over Krofft week and many folks wanted to join in! Seeing as most of you have better collections than me, it made sense to showcase them here today.Manuel has a great selection of Krofft borad games, I've never seen the Bugaloo's one above.

Friday, February 13, 2015

For me the most anticipated thing at Toy Fair 2015 was how the 3 3/4" Flash Gordon line was going to turn out. I was elated to see BifBangPow had released this teaser image of the line a day early.They've really taken that retro feel and ran with it IMO, making some gorgeous figures that really look like the actors yet still feel at home next to my Star Wars and Buck Rogers. This is going to be a pricey year.

We wouldn't be much of a 70s retro website without a discussion of Sid and Marty Krofft would we? I think we'd have to turn in our "Gen X" badges.

Episode 27 takes from the days of HR Puf N Stuf but sadly gets cut short at "Pink Lady and Jeff" due to Jason became trapped in a pocket universe thanks to a pylon accident (translation his wi fi crapped out).

So the silver lining is, there will be another Krofft themed episode, for now join as we talk about Sleestaks, the Brady's, Caroline Ellis, Electra Woman and Dynagirl, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, Will Ferrel, Jay Robinson and much more.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Aw yeah, Wonderbug is definitely in my top five Krofft shows, basically a live action speed buggy with a little Shazam! sprinkled in for good measure, what's not to love. Above is the Wonderbug toy cars made by Duncan (the yo-yo people).

Here's a whole display of them. I really need to track down one of these.

This is the Wonderbug pedal car, I wouldn't know where to put this but I pray i never see one at a flea market...

I am not surprised to see there is a Wonderbug puzzle by HG Toys, I am now convinced they made puzzles of my first communion.

I did not know however that there was a Wonderbug board game, the art work on the box is pretty great.

Lastly we did a Colouring book theatre a few years ago for Wonderbug, my friend Sharry graciously provided the scans. You can check it out here.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Probably my most favourite of all Krofft shows would be Land of the Lost, I never missed it and it often scared the hell out of me.It was also one of the most heavily merchandised Krofft shows ever made, above is the Safari Shooter one of the many rack toys made.

Speaking of Rack Toys, it's a personal goal to get this bad boy one day.

This Sleestak Jiggler produced by Ben Cooper is among my favourite toy possessions. I have no idea why there haven't been more Sleestak toys.

Speaking of Sleestaks, the Ben Cooper Halloween costume is another item I do hope to track down some day.

No greater evidence of the show's popularity than the fact that viewmaster released two sets of reels for the show, one of the first season and a second for the "Uncle Jack" year.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Continuing my love for all thing Krofft, I have always been super fond of Dr. Shrinker. I probably like "Far Out Space Nuts" a l'il bit more but it doesn't seem to have much merchandise so Shrinker it is...Harmony had the license to make rack toys from all the Krofft Super Show and seemed to have fun with this show.

I was maybe a little too excited to get this magnifying glass a couple of years ago.

Another puzzle that I had no idea existed that i now need to own. Curse you HG Toys!

I nabbed these Dr Shrinker/Wonderbug (another favourite of mine) Viewmasters at a flea market this summer for ten bucks, total victory!There is a Dr Shrinker Halloween costume but I can't seem to find right but will post to the Facebook page when I find it.